LAPT8 Peru: Moustapha moves ahead of Moya after heads-up deal

Shortly after heads-up play began, they moved to Level 27 (25,000/50,000/5,000) at which point Chadi Moustapha began steadily chipping up versus Claudio Moya, claiming several small pots to close the gap somewhat on Moya's huge lead to start their duel.

Moya then won a decent-sized pot after raising the river and getting called, then showing that the jack on fifth street had given him top pair, top kicker with ace-jack. Moustapha tried to muck, but Moya asked to see his hand and was shown Moustapha's close-but-not-quite-enough king-jack.

Claudio Moya

But Moustapha began edging back toward Moya, and soon they decided to pause proceedings and find a more quiet place away from the gathering rail to talk about a possible chop.

Moya had about 4.53 million at that point to Moustapha's 2.67 million. They returned to the poker room after just a few minutes, then after a little more discussion shook hands, having agreed upon terms.

There was $255,876 left in the prize pool, and despite Moya's significant chip advantage the pair had agreed to a deal that saw each taking away $120,000 apiece, leaving $15,876 for which to play.

Soon they were in action again, and it wasn't that long before a hand arose that saw Moya opening from the button with a min-raise to 100,000, Moustapha calling, and the flop coming 6♣9♦4♣.

Moustapha checked, Moya continued, then Moustapha check-raised to 475,000. Moya hesitated a moment, then announced he was all in, and Moustapha called in a flash.

Moustapha: 4♠4♥Moya: 8♠8♥

A set of fours for Moustapha was way ahead of Moya's eights, and after the 3♥ turn and 9♠ river, Moustapha grabbed the chip lead away from Moya for the first time in a long while today, moving up around 4.6 million to Moya's 2.6 million.

Chadi Moustapha

The rest of the level played out with several small pots passed back and forth, with Moya gaining back ground before they reached the next break, which they've agreed to make a half-hour.